One way to break down barriers and promote understanding among English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and mainstream students is to establish culture clubs. Culture clubs involve frequent exchange of information about social, academic, and cultural topics in extracurricular settings. They are a critical component of ESL programs. The article explains…

Immigrant English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students in secondary schools can benefit from contact with ESL college students. Their older peers can become mentors and role models, providing access to information on postsecondary education. The article explains how a pen pal project can bring these two groups together and describes how to create…

Describes how to use a language-processing model to develop holistic reading strategies for college-level English-as-a-Second-Language students. The paper explains how to use an English reading processor, develop a supplementary reading program, access students' background knowledge, and find methods that work, noting that this model will nurture…

One university's business college implemented a program, in the context of a business-related curriculum, to help international graduate students acquire academic writing skills necessary to fulfill their writing requirements. They formed a partnership with the linguistics program and developed a course, professional writing for business…

Interactive research can build English-as-a-Second-Language students' language skills and cultural awareness. This paper describes a research project in which Spanish-speaking students at a San Francisco college advanced their language skills while developing basic computer-literacy skills as they conducted meaningful, relevant research projects…

Describes the development of a project designed to build a positive role for peer observation in a language program, reports the reactions of the participants, and gives guidelines for the use of peer observation in a language program. (seven references) (GLR)

Discusses the teaching and practicing of feminism in university-level English-as-a-Second-Language classrooms, focusing on political and social attitudes toward feminism, gender issues, the incorporation of feminist readings and ideas into courses, and classroom practices in regard to citing women as authorities, varying pronoun references, and…

Argues that teachers need to become more aware of the types of discourse they use in their classroom and become better able to distinguish between discourse patterns that promote second-language learning and those that do not. Provides a checklist for the self-assessment of teacher discourse patterns. (eight references) (MDM)

Four articles explain how English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers can help students create stories around pieces of music, use geography exercises to develop English and cognitive skills, learn about foreign cultures from their peers, and use magazine articles as the basis for role playing. A fifth article discusses the use of introspective…

Four short articles are combined: "Adding Discourse-Level Practice to Sentence-Level Exercises" (Eric S. Nelson); "Presenting Picture Books in the ESL Classroom" (Lijun Shen); "Role Playing in a Large Class" (Ellen Rosen); and "Calvin and Hobbes and Other Icons of Americana" (Daniel J. Conrad). (Contains seven references.) (LB)

Discusses the use of English and Spanish children's literature in bilingual programs, reviewing 25 books that focus on elders teaching children, relationships between children and older adults, and children as helpers of older people. Using books that are related thematically gives children the opportunity to relate stories to their own lives and…

Examines ways to involve language students in the test-making process. Discusses student-generated test items, test goals, outdoor paired vocabulary testing, interactive grading, and peer testing. Argues that student learning is more important than test scores. (nine references) (MDM)

Discusses activities that can help language students use the concept of personal competence to become better learners. Teachers can list student and teacher responsibilities, ask students for feedback on class activities, and implement student suggestions to accommodate individual and group learning styles. (three references) (MDM)

Describes a secondary school language teacher's use of electronic mail and an electronic bulletin board system to conduct several classes for multinational students of English at Hong Kong International School. Student assignments, student assessment, the development of communication and thinking skills, and unexpected difficulties involving…

Describes a collaborative program organized by English professors at National Kaohsiung Normal University in Taiwan and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, in which students in similar courses at the two institutions communicate via online conferencing. Such communication aids student learning and enhances cultural awareness (five…